Bass Lessons in Ilkley and Online

I've been teaching music now for almost 16 years to hundreds of pupils of all ages and abilities on a 1:1 basis.

I am now based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire and have pupils travelling to me for lessons from Ilkley, Ben Rhydding, Addingham, Menston, Burley in Wharfedale, Otley, Keighley, Skipton, Guiseley, Bolton Abbey, Bradford, Leeds City Centre and more. Additionally I provide tuition online via Zoom, FaceTime or Skype and have nationwide and international pupils.

In this series of blogs I will try to dive deeper into specific areas of my music teaching life. Today I'd like to discuss bass lessons.

What is a bass?

The bass guitar is a 4-stringed instrument which is the lowest in pitch of all the guitar family. The strings are tuned the same as the lowest four strings of the regular guitar (E A D G) but an octave lower. Along with the drums, the bass guitar is a key part of the "rhythm section" of a standard rock/pop band. You will need an amplifier to hear the bass.

The bass strings can be plucked with fingers, thumb or with a plectrum depending on what kind of tone you are looking for and the sound of the instrument can be altered using effects pedals.

Why learn bass?

Five positives of learning bass guitar:

1. Like the electric guitar there are a number of different colours, shapes and sizes to suit your own personal style.
2. Individualism and demand. Not as many people learn bass as guitar but bands always need bassists!
3. There are a huge number of memorable and instantly recognisable bass lines and riffs in rock and pop music to learn.
4. There is no immediate need to learn how to read music notation as the bass is more often associated with TAB and playing by ear.
5. Versatility and variety. Some bassists hold down the root notes and are the low end engine of the song. Elsewhere there are groove players who keep the music glued together, whilst others apply more of a lead approach with slides, slaps and taps.

Depending on the pupil in question, I'm happy to take a relaxed and gentle approach to learning the bass guitar but can also accommodate progressing through the exam grades using something like the Rockschool or Trinity Rock and Pop syllabus.

I like a bespoke and individualistic approach and try to inspire my pupils with a whole variety of different stuff if they show an interest.

Book a lesson with Ben here